With the coronavirus stats going in the right direction, all of us at C&G Newspapers look forward to resuming publication of the St. Clair Shores Sentinel and Birmingham-Bloomfield Eagle on May 27th. All other C&G newspapers will begin publishing on June 10th (Advertiser-Times on June 24th). In the meantime, continue to find local news on our website and look for us on Facebook and Twitter.

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With the coronavirus stats going in the right direction, all of us at C&G Newspapers look forward to resuming publication of the St. Clair Shores Sentinel and Birmingham-Bloomfield Eagle on May 27th. All other C&G newspapers will begin publishing on June 10th (Advertiser-Times on June 24th). In the meantime, continue to find local news on our website and look for us on Facebook and Twitter.

Clockwise from left, Kaylin Pardon, Tyler Pardon, Leah Pardon, Kathryn Brandt and Samantha Brandt make fleece blankets for Home FurEver. Over the last two months, students in the School Age Child-Care Program at Mohawk Elementary in Macomb Township made 100 blankets.

Mohawk students make blankets for foster-based canine rescue

MACOMB TOWNSHIP — Not only do humans use blankets to help stay warm this time of year, so do our furry friends.

Over the last two months, students in Mohawk Elementary’s School Age Child-Care Program, or SACC, made fleece blankets in Macomb Township for Home FurEver, a nonprofit, foster-based canine rescue.

Home FurEver Animal Rescue is a volunteer organization that recovers animals and places them into homes where they will be cared for and loved. It provides services in order to prepare animals for adoption in “furever homes.”

SACC is offered for students before and after school, where individuals can work on homework, do various activities, and play.

Around 50 SACC students made 100 blankets over a two-month span in October and November. The blankets were picked up Nov. 22.

“We decided to donate to Home FurEver and learned about it through another Chippewa (Valley Schools) employee, Lynn Dawson,” Mohawk Elementary Principal Andrea McVicar-Lopez said.

Dawson is a counselor at Iroquois Middle School, and since June, she has volunteered with Home FurEver, fostering puppies.

“We have several dogs and puppies that are up for adoption, and each dog, when they’re adopted, goes home with a blanket,” Dawson said. “Now they can go with a blanket made by a student. There are some tiny puppies that are in need of blankets now to (keep) them warm.”

In 2018, Dawson received puppies from a woman who found them in freezing conditions. Some of the puppies didn’t make it, and Mohawk decided to partner with Home FurEver.

McVicar-Lopez said Dawson is the only Home FurEver employee who fosters puppies on the east side, and there are homes, mainly on the west side of Detroit, that foster puppies.

Last year, SACC Director Rita Watts had students collect items for pets that were donated to the Michigan Humane Society.

“This year, she wanted to do something different and have kids learn about helping others,” McVicar-Lopez said. “We came up with making the blankets.”

She added that Watts doesn’t want SACC to be only a place where kids go to eat a snack and play.

“She wants them to experience other things and puts effort into the program and wants to expand the children’s knowledge,” McVicar-Lopez said.

Dawson hopes that through the project, students learned empathy and how to love and take care of others.

“I was blown away by their generosity,” Dawson said. “It’s incredible they’re going out of their way to help, especially this time of year, for puppies in need.”

In January, Mohawk’s student council and SACC will combine efforts to collect items all year to give to Dawson for Home FurEver.

Home FurEver was established in 2003 and has rescued, rehabilitated, and re-homed over 7,000 dogs and puppies from metro Detroit.